IT Correspondent
Mumbai, Sept. 27:
Scores of new Chinese apps have flooded Indian app stores in the last few months including several rebranded versions of applications banned by the Union Government in recent months citing threat to national security and sovereignty.
For example, Snack Video launched by Tencent-backed Kuaishou, is similar to Kwai, an earlier offering by the Chinese company that was banned in June. Snack Video, which has already amassed significant number of Indian users, is also replicating features of the banned popular short-video app TikTok, owned by ByteDance.
Similarly, the banned Hago app, which allowed people to create chat rooms with strangers and also play games with them, has been replaced by an app called Ola Party. While the new app does not offer the gaming option, it has imported the sign-in as well as the existing profile, friends and chat rooms from Hago.
Reacting to this an official of the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) said that the action will be taken against those involved in introducing new versions of Chinese apps since the ministry has issued advisories that none of the banned Chinese apps should be available in any form. The ministry banned nearly 47 clones that came up in the weeks following initial ban in Chinese apps in June.
The experts are of the view that India is too lucrative a market to lose for Chinese companies and they would make every effort to return. If the app ban doesn’t subside in a few months, banned apps in new avatars will crop up.
The Indian Internet market is obviously hard to ignore for the Chinese or other companies. The new trend will be of the Chinese developers teaming up with Indian developers to mitigate political risk and launching the apps, as one does not need enormous amounts of capital to launch an app—anywhere between $2 million and $5 million is enough. App companies could also take the route of registering offices in Southeast Asian countries to escape the geopolitical tensions. In some cases, Indian users are reporting that banned apps like the chatting app Mico, although removed from app stores, continue to function on phones where it is pre-installed. India first banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, followed by 47 apps in July and then 118 apps this month.
